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ON THE TRAIL

July 12, 2008

NASCAR's BAM Racing team is in discussions with Barack Obama's presidential campaign about a potential sponsorship deal in the Sprint Cup series later this year. Team spokesman Rhett Vandiver told The Associated Press on Friday that the team has made a sponsorship proposal to the Democratic presidential hopeful's campaign, and has made similar proposals to the campaign of Republican John McCain and at least one third-party candidate. Sports Illustrated first reported the proposal on its Web site, saying Obama's campaign is in talks with BAM, a part-time operation that hasn't raced in recent weeks, to sponsor its No. 49 car in the Aug. 3 race at Pocono.

Sen. Joe Lieberman hasn't been shy criticizing Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting Barack Obama, but Friday he praised one of Obama's potential running mates, Sen. Christopher Dodd. Lieberman said his Connecticut colleague "deserves" consideration by Obama for the Democratic ticket. "If it's true, I'm very happy to hear it because I think Chris Dodd deserves that consideration and he's earned it," Lieberman said during a teleconference call with Connecticut reporters. "I don't mean just in the last year, but throughout his whole career."

John McCain's presidential campaign plans to enhance its Web site with more data about its fundraising, including more details about the individuals who collect money from donors and about donors living overseas. Eager to appear more forthcoming than Democrat Barack Obama, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis notified leaders of several campaign finance watchdog groups Friday that McCain will begin identifying top fundraisers not only by name and location but by employer and occupation. The new data will be available on the campaign Web site next week.